The Best Times Two
by BananaLollypop
Summary: In which Éponine cheats and Enjolras is already wrapped around someone's little finger. Part 16 in my 'What if... Enjolnine' series. R&R appreciated as much as cake. Lots of cake. CHOCOLATE cake.


**AN: **What's this?! Me?! Updating... MID-WEEK?! IN TERM TIME?! I know, it's a shock. I originally was just going to post Once a week, but this wouldn't leave me alone today, and I thought that things have been a bit... dramatic/not fluffy recently. So I wrote THIS! It's humourous and there's an ickle bit of fluff in there too :3

Prompt: What if Enjolras and Éponine were faced with a typical parental problem: DIY? Enjoy!

* * *

"Enjolras?" Éponine's voice distracted him as he knelt on the wooden floor of the bigger of their spare bedrooms, a half-assembled crib in front of him.

Éponine, who had been sitting at the dining table, appeared in the doorway. She smiled at his so unnaturally dishevelled appearance; his jacket was tossed aside, the buttons of his waistcoat undone and the sleeves of his white shirt messily rolled up to his elbows. The knees of his trousers were slightly grey with dust.

"Yes, dearest Éponine?" he questioned, pausing in his task, standing up and brushing the dust from his knees.

"Would I be a bad friend if I made Cosette have to suffer through the amount of wedding planning that she made me go through?" Enjolras couldn't help but laugh at her question.

"Not at all," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and interlinking his fingers as his hands rested on the small of her back, "In fact, I have absolutely no doubt that she'll murder you if you don't let her help." Éponine smiled.

"You're right," she nodded, "And I don't have a death wish. But... I don't think I want to tell everyone else yet. That is, if Marius hasn't told them already."

"Don't worry, he promised to take the secret of my proposal to his grave." Enjolras said, smirking slightly, "And if that's what you want, then that's what we'll do."

It was almost a week after Enjolras' not-so-perfect proposal, and plans for a wedding were not in the near future; currently, the pair were far too occupied with the fact that Baby was on its way, and they were far from prepared. Hence the half-assembled crib and the fact that Éponine had been sewing a patchwork quilt constantly for the best part of a week. They had gifts from friends coming in left right and centre, seeing as Éponine really hadn't been bothered with a baby shower. Cosette had been very unimpressed, but had seemed slightly happier when Éponine promised to throw her the mother of all baby showers when her and Marius decided to start a family.

"Thank you," she said, kissing him lightly on the lips before resting her head on his chest, "What are you doing?"

"Building a crib..." he said, frowning as he looked around at his creation, "It's not going very well. Feuilly got a friend of his to write down some instructions of how to put the different parts together but... I'm not convinced he's got them right. The bloody thing just won't fit right!"

"Maybe you're doing it wrong," Éponine said, looking up at him with raised eyebrows, "I have always been told that men are _useless_ when it comes to following instructions..."

"I resent that, mademoiselle!" he said in mock offense. Éponine just laughed.

"Shall I try?" she asked, taking his hands in hers fondly, "I always enjoyed building little houses for my dolls when I was little. This can't be much different." Enjolras frowned again.

"'Ponine, I think this may be slightly different to creating little houses with bits of wood and old books," he said sceptically. Éponine raised her eyebrows.

"Challenge accepted." She said seriously, dropping his hands and approaching the half-a-crib, "Why don't you go and get lunch, and I'll sort the crib?"

"Lunch?" Enjolras said, sounding confused, poking his head out of the door to look at the clock at the end of the hall. He cursed silently, "I was supposed to meet Marius for a government thing ten minutes ago..." he grumbled, "I lost track of time."

"Even more of a reason for me to take over then," she said, shoving him playfully, "Go for your meeting. I can handle this."

"Are you sure?" he asked, sounding concerned, "It just doesn't seem right to leave my fiancé home alone when she's eight and a half months pregnant and wanting to attempt to build a crib..."

"I. Will. Be. _Fine_. Apollo." She promised, smiling at his concern. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his slid around her back automatically, "Vive la France, remember? I'm a part of this revolution too. At the end of the day, the crib can wait until tomorrow and I'll just put my feet up until you get back. Your meeting is more important." Enjolras sighed, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I love you, 'Ponine," he said quietly, astounded by how persistent she was that he put his cause before something involving both her and their child. No woman his parents could have matched him with could or would ever compare.

"I love you too," she said, "Now go," she shoved him playfully out the door and he stumbled (again, rather unlike himself) halfway down the hall, "France can't run itself you know, and if you leave it in the hands of those blundering government officials for another second, so help me, I will get very angry."

Enjolras made a face, "Scary 'Ponine," he muttered, a phrase that he and Gavroche currently used often whilst in the company of Éponine. He smiled jokingly as she glared at him, walking the few paces back to the door quickly to kiss her on the cheek. She blushed slightly, smiling.

"Bring me back a pastry," she called to him, re-entering the spare room.

"Of course," he replied, and she smiled as she heard the front door close and his footsteps echo down the stairs.

Éponine placed one hand on her bump and the other on her hip as she surveyed the mess on the floor, trying to work out which piece was which, let alone which went where.

"Right..." she muttered to herself, "Now the question is: do I admit that I need help now, or wait until later...?"

* * *

Which is what brought her to the Musain, approaching Courfeyrac and Feuilly who were sitting at a table, Courfeyrac staring blankly at a page in a book, Feuilly staring at Courfeyrac amusedly.

"'Ponine!" Courfeyrac grinned, noticing her come in. Feuilly nodded his hello, "What are you doing here on your own? Enjolras finally annoyed you out of your mind?" Éponine smiled inwardly, rather glad that the Amis apparently didn't know about Enjolras' proposal.

"No," she said, raising her eyebrows at his question disapprovingly, "He's gone to a meeting with Marius about the government. I came to ask a favour."

Courfeyrac gestured for her to sit in the last remaining seat at the table, both he and Feuilly now considerably more interested.

"Feuilly, you know the friend of yours who wrote down the instructions for the crib we have for Baby?" she asked. The Amis had long since become acquainted with the idea of Éponine and Enjolras' child being 'Baby' until it was determined whether he or she was precisely that: a he, or a she. There had been a long and rather pointless conversation about why it was 'Baby' as opposed to 'the baby' which really just ended with Éponine pulling the 'it's my baby not yours, stop questioning it!' card.

"Yes..." he frowned, "Did he write something wrong?"

"Well, that's the thing..." Éponine laughed quietly, "I have _absolutely _no idea! Enjolras started on it this morning, but he was complaining that it 'wasn't fitting right'. Then he realised that he was late for his meeting with Marius, so I said I'd take care of it. But I can't even distinguish each piece from the next, let alone work out how they form a crib! I'd probably mistake the lot of it for firewood if I didn't know any better..."

"So, what you're saying is..." Courfeyrac grinned, "You need our help?"

Éponine rolled her eyes, but nodded, "I'd like for it to be finished by the time Enjolras got back, as a surprise." Feuilly and Courfeyrac grinned at each other.

"Let's go build a crib."

* * *

By the time Enjolras came home, Éponine was lying on the sofa, her back leaning against one armrest, her feet resting on the other, book in hand with a cup of tea on the table beside her.

He kissed the top of her head as he reached her, "Did you manage without me?"

"Of course," she smiled, "I told you I'd be fine. Did you remember my pastry?"

"Of course," he mimicked her, placing said pastry on a plate from the kitchen before passing it to her.

"Thank you," she smiled. Enjolras lifted her legs up so that he could sit under them on the sofa, and Éponine shifted slightly so that she could rest her feet on his lap.

"Did you finish the crib?" he asked. From the pure curiosity on his face, Éponine could tell that he'd been dying to ask the question from the second she could hear him coming up the stairs.

"The crib is finished," she said after swallowing a mouthful of pastry; she wasn't technically lying after all. The crib _was_ finished. Enjolras just didn't need to know that it was actually Feuilly and Courfeyrac who had finished it.

Enjolras smiled, "I'm impressed," he said, his smile turning to a smirk, "What did you bribe Courfeyrac and Feuilly with?" Éponine dropped her pastry in shock (luckily for her, she had been holding it over the plate).

"How did you know?!" she demanded. Enjolras chuckled.

"Honestly, Athena, what happened to your wisdom?" he asked jokily, "You of all people should know that those two can't keep a secret to save their lives. All I did was bump into them at the bakery and ask casually about what they'd been doing today! They were blabbing about the crib within five seconds!"

Éponine groaned, "Well, it's not my fault," she grumbled, "I'm pregnant. I don't know _what_ I'm feeling. My burst of overconfidence when it came to the crib was purely down to the fact that I currently have a little human being growing inside me."

Enjolras' eyes twinkled as he smiled, resting his hand on her bump and feeling the now familiar sensation of the baby kicking. The look of love on his face made Éponine smile. She rested her hand on top of his, faintly feeling the baby kicking under his hand.

"We can do this, can't we?" she asked, "We can be parents."

"Of course we can," Enjolras replied firmly, "Baby will be the best thing that's happened to us."

"Except for the rebellion," Éponine said, "That was what first brought us together, and therefore it's the best."

"You can't have two things that are the best, Éponine," Enjolras said, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Well you can, because we do," Éponine said firmly, "The barricades, and the Baby. Two best things."

Enjolras, knowing better than to argue when Éponine was in this mood, just squeezed her hand, "Whatever you say, dearest Athena." Éponine nodded triumphantly, finishing the last of her pastry.

"All of this giving in to my demands isn't good for my ego, you know," she said, nonetheless grateful. She was exhausted; now nearing the end of her pregnancy, it was taking its toll, and she could barely stay on her feet for ten minutes without getting tired.

"Does it make you happy?" he asked.

"It doesn't make me _un_happy..." she said cheekily. He smiled.

"Then it's worth it." He said, his tone definite. She rolled her eyes.

"Baby is going to have you wrapped around their little finger within thirty seconds." She said, her tone light and uncritical. He frowned.

"I'm not _that_ easily swayed," he said, "I _did_ lead a revolution... and then infiltrated the government buildings... and now infiltrate the government..."

"Yes, yes, alright, Monsieur 'I'm a successful republican'..." Éponine rolled her eyes, "But, really. Baby is going to be able to manipulate you better than Cosette manipulates Marius."

"Ouch," Enjolras winced, "That was a low blow, 'Ponine. Do you really think I'm that weak?"

"Weak? Not at all," Éponine shook her head, "But everything will be different for Baby. Mark my words." Enjolras didn't push it further; Éponine had that look in her eye: the one that just made you know that she was right. And he honestly didn't want her to tell him just how easily Baby would be able to change his mind.

"We'll be fine," he repeated. Éponine nodded.

"The best parents there's ever been." She added.

"And Baby will be perfect."

"The best." Éponine and Enjolras shared a look that was rather rare between the two.

It was a look of complete agreement and understanding. It was a look that summed up their entire relationship and reminded both of them why they were now about to start a family and plans for their wedding.

It was the look that gave the other something to live for. And it truly was the best.

* * *

**Reviews, prompts, feedback and the like are all welcomed and thank you muchly for reading ^-^ Typos are apologised for... I'm lazy :P Chuck me a review.. you know you want to ;)**


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